144 pages : 28 cm

No civilization has revered the Word more deeply than Islam, and in none has calligraphy become so major and universal an art form. This superbly illustrated book, which includes examples of the work of many of the most famous calligraphers of all time, is the first to allow the reader to follow calligraphy from its origins in pre-Islamic times, through its reform with the invention of the strict rules which make it so disciplined an art and which led to its periods of greatest flowering, right up to the innovations of the present century. But writing is not confined to the pen, inscriptions appear virtually everywhere--on furniture and textiles, on metalware and ceramics, and most strikingly of all, on buildings. The breadth of approach of text and illustrations makes this a book of equal interest to the Westerner and the Muslim, the traveller and the museum visitor, the student and the artist. -- Back cover

Includes bibliographical references (page 143)

Includes index and glossary

Origins of the Arabic alphabet -- Early calligraphic developments -- Kufic scripts -- The reform of the Arabic script -- The development of the cursive scripts -- The major scripts according to classical tradition -- The Maghribi scripts -- Later calligraphic developments -- The 'six styles' of cursive writing -- Thuluth -- Maskhi -- Muhaqqaq -- Rayhani -- Tawqi' -- Riqa' -- Maghribi -- Ta'liq, Nasta'liq and Shikasteh -- The calligrapher and his page -- Composite styles and techniques -- Calligraphy as primary motif -- Islamic calligraphy and Western art -- Calligraphic signs and devices -- The Arabic alphabet -- Glossary

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